Do you smell that, Hanover?

Utz says sour odor around High Street facility will be fixed soon.

Residents who live near the Utz Quality Foods factory on High Street in Hanover have for years quietly accepted the dry, baked aroma associated with the company's snack-making process.

More recently, however, another odor has been tickling their noses, something much more offensive.

For more than a year, they say, neighborhood residents have been overwhelmed by the strong, unmistakable stench of sewage.

It has been so harsh, in fact, that residents say they can't open their windows, hang clothes outside or spend time in their backyards.

"It's an offensive odor that stinks up the neighborhood," said Ed Leonard, who lives on Shafer Drive. "This is not something we should have to put up with."

"The smell that we're getting now is a strong sewer smell," said John Gladfelter, who has lived on High Street for more than 40 years.

Gladfelter said the odor emanating from the plant ruined the cookout he had at his house over Memorial Day weekend.

"Some (guests) were half sick, and it wasn't from my cooking," he said.

Residents said they have for years put up with an occasional ill smell, apparently from the plant's wastewater treatment facility. But, it has gotten progressively worse over the past year, they say.

"It's getting more and more prevalent," said Charlie Britcher, a long-time Shafer Drive resident. "It happens at 2 o'clock in the morning."

High Street resident Brenda Brennan said she recently could smell the foul odor in her house, despite having the windows closed.

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"It was so bad it permeated through the house," she said. "We had people up from Maryland and I was embarrassed."

Utz spokesman George Neiderer said the company is aware of the unpleasant odor and expects the problem to be solved in the near future.

"There's no question that on certain days there has been an odor detected," said Neiderer, Utz's vice president of human resources.

Neiderer said the company was in the process of an upgrade to its on-site wastewater treatment plant when a fire damaged a control panel there in April. Consequently, Neiderer said, there have been problems both with air circulation for the digesters and for material decomposing.

"We were in the middle of an upgrade and we've experienced some down time," he said. "We feel very confident we're going to mitigate this in the very near future. We do feel in a very short time that things will be back in order.

"We appreciate the residents' patience with this," he added.

But the nearly 30 residents who gathered at Laverne and Virginia Sanders' house on High Street Friday night have reached the end of their patience. They have complained to borough officials and recently met with state Rep. Will Tallman (R-Reading Township).

Laverne Sanders said when Tallman visited his house this week there was no smell outside but when they walked in "it was still in the garage here."

After receiving complaints about the smell, the state Department of Environmental Protect inspected the company's wastewater treatment plant this week, according to DEP spokeswoman Lisa Kasianowitz. And while an inspector noticed an odor, the company was not found to be in violation, she said.

Kasianowitz said a summary of the inspection findings indicated that there "were some odors noted, but not enough to constitute a violation."

Kasianowitz confirmed that the company is in the process of a treatment system upgrade and said chemical levels are being adjusted to deal with the odor problem.

"The facility indicated that the upgrade should be complete within a week," Kasianowitz said Thursday. "The facility will also send in a report detailing the changes that have been made and the measures they have in place to reduce the potential for odors."

She said the department plans to have air quality and water quality staff visit the site jointly next week to further evaluate the situation.

According to Kasianowitz, Utz has an air quality permit from DEP. She said regulations state that objectionable odors may not cross off property.

Residents say the smell is not always present, and is sometimes stronger at night.

Several factors, including wind and moisture in the air, have contributed to the aroma moving off the facility property, Neiderer said.

"From time to time we have a bit of an odor," he said.

Residents Friday said they believe Utz is overloading its treatment facility and that the company has become less responsive to the concerns of its neighbors.

"When they first moved in they made a point of being good neighbors, they took care of their problems. But now it's like they don't care anymore," Gladfelter said.